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1899] Col. James Henry Rion. 25 

civil office with pay. He was a delegate to the Constitu- 
tional Convention of 1865, and to all subsequent State Con- 
ventions of the Conservative and Democratic parties. He 
was elected member of the National Democratic Executive 
Committee for South Carolina, in 1876. In 1877, with 
Gen. Kershaw and others, he was sent to Washington as a 
member of the Hampton committee. For a long while, he 
was chairman of the board of trustees of the Mount Zion 
Institute, and a member of the board of trustees of 
South Carolina College. 

He was, in the Masonic lodge, Worshipful Master of the 
Grand Lodge and High Priest of the chapter, and thrice 
Illustrous Grand Master in the Council; he was also 
Knight of the Red Cross; Knight of Malta ; and Knight 
Templar ; and once District Deputy Grand Master of Odd 
Fellows. He was general counsellor of the Charlotte, 
Columbia and Augusta Railroad; general solicitor of the 
Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta Railroad, and advis- 
ing counsel of several railroad companies; solicitor of the 
National Bank of Winnsboro, and attorney for the town 
council of Winnsboro. 

In private life. Colonel Rion was quiet, liberal, and char- 
itable. Many of the Confederate widows and orphans were 
grateful recipients of his liberality and kindness. In his 
business life, he was systematic and punctual, with a some- 
what reserved disposition. 

Shortly after his graduation. Colonel Rion married Miss 
Weir, a daughter of Samuel Weir, an old Columbia jour 
nalist. At his death he left five daughters and three sons, 
one of whom, Mr. Preston Rion, to whose kindness I am 
indebted for much of the above information, is at present 
postmaster at Winnsboro. 

Although Colonel Rion was under the patronage of John 
C. Calhoun and Wm. C. Preston, he worked out his own 
success, exhibiting a perseverance and determination fully 
in keeping with his great intellect. 



26 The Davidson College Magazine. [Ocl. 

Since 1854, his home had been in Winnsboro, where he 
gained for himself an abiding place in the hearts of all 
with whom he was associated. 

In commemoration of his grand intellect, excellent vir- 
tues, and many noble achievements, shall it not be said of 
him that, though he is dead, yet has he left 

"A lofty name, 
A light, a landmark on the cliffs of fame." 



THE ALAMANCE REGULATORS. 



[This article was written for the Raleigh "Standard" in 1S57, by 
Dr. Samuel L,. Holt, of Graham, N. C. For some reason, it was not 
given to the publishers, but was left in a drawer in the drug store of 
Dr. Wm. A. Holt, a nephew of the author, and for many years the 
beloved physician of Davidson, It has been carefully preserved in 
Dr. Holt's family, to whom we are indebted for its use. — Editor] 

T/ie Editors of the Standard : 

There is perhaps nothing new in the expose, but it 
embodies the facts in a shape a little different from 
those heretofore given to the public. If you think it 
worthy of a place in your columns, you can publish it, if 
not, suppress it. 

A name will not add to its merits, (if it have any) nor 
will the absence of one detract from it. One who is not 
anxious to figure in a newspaper will nevertheless abide by 
the statements here made, because they are supposed to be 
founded on truth. Very respectfully. 



I lately passed over the Regulation battle ground. It is 
eight miles southwest from the town of Graham, in Ala- 
mance (then Orange) County, and on the road from Hills- 
boro, by Bell's Mill, to Salisbury. 

The ground, in 1771, was sparsely covered with trees. It 
is now nearly all cleared, and the face of the country, (a 



1899] The Alamance Regulators. 27 

high tableland between the North and South branches of 
the great Alamance) can be seen in almost every direction. 

The causes which led to that event, after the lapse of 86 
years, and after the mists of interest, prejudice, passion, 
family name and influence have passed away, can be calmly 
and distinctly viewed at every point. 

It is a matter of regret that the earlier historians were 
not better informed of the facts and circumstances connected 
with the origin and progress of the contests of the people 
in North Carolina with the Royal Government, from 1765 
to 1771. 

Judge Marshall, in his history of the American Colonies, 
calls the movement of the Regulators an insurrection of a 
set of ignorant people who were dissatisfied with the Fee 
Bill. 

He, no doubt, derived his information from the Govern- 
or's proclamations, the judges, or the lawyers, who usually 
regard heavy fees as the very quintessence of justice and 
law. 

The later writers have embodied more facts, and have 
therefore more truth and fairness in their accounts of the 
transactions of that period ; but have spoiled the correct- 
ness and force of the story by their mode of telling the 
tale — by the introduction of some ill-timed attempts at wit, 
or by a fulsome eulogy upon some favorite person, doc- 
trine, or theory by the wayside. 

"An honest tale speeds best when plainly told." The 
legislative and executive power was virtually vested in the 
Governor and Council. The ministerial officers were 
appointed by the Governor, and therefore under his con- 
trol. 

The judges were overshadowed by him, and in a great 
measure dependent upon him. 

We have a melancholy instance of this in the fate of 
Judge Berry, who had the firmness and integrity to do his 
duty on the Bench, but not the moral courage to face a 



28 The Davidson College Magazine. [OcL 

man who had hoped and expected to overawe him by his 
power and place. The courts were few and far between, 
and totally insufficient to do the business of the Colonists, 
the distance and the expense of attending them amounting 
almost to a denial of justice to men of ordinary means. 

The taxes were onerous to a people who had but little 
money and needed but little. Their wants were supplied 
by a country abounding with game and the fruits of a rich 
-virgin soil. 

The law, when justly and faithfully administered, was 
the only master they acknowledged, and the tax was cheer- 
fully paid when in strict accordance with it. 

Government, as they understood it, was made for the 
benefit of the governed, and deserved neither the respect 
nor obedience of the subjects, when it ceased to perform its 
legitimate functions, and became an engine of oppression. 

The Clerks of the Courts made out extraordinary and 
illegal bills of costs against suitors, and charged exorbitant 
fees for all business connected with their offices. 

The Sheriffs extorted from the people a much larger sum 
than the law authorized. Their property was seized to 
gratify the rapacity of these minions of power, and their 
persons insulted by these self-constituted despots, (the Gov- 
ernor and his creatures sharing the spoils.) 

It was the duty of the courts to prevent and punish such 
outrages, of the Attorney General to prosecute such offen- 
ders. Duty and justice were disregarded, and the evil con- 
tinued. 

After having applied in vain to the courts, the people 
determined to try the moral power of numbers. They 
formed themselves into an association, called Regulators, 
and held their first great mass meeting at Haddock's Mill. 

There they set forth and promulgated the very princi- 
ples embodied in our Declaration of Rights. 

I. The right to meet and consult for the common good. 



1899] The Alamance Regulators. 29 

2. The right to inquire into the accounts of public 
officers. 

3. The right to be taxed only by their own consent. 

4. The right to a fair trial by jury. 

5. The right to a fair administration of the criminal 
laws. 

6. The right, particularly, to prosecute and punish 
corrupt judges, clerks, sheriffs, etc. 

They petitioned the Governor repeatedly to execute the 
law, and bring offenders to justice. He at first promised 
to visit their courts, enquire into the ground of their com- 
plaints, and correct abuses. 

He came, and his minion, Edmund Fanning, was 
indicted for corruption and malpractice in office. 

He pleaded guilty, was fined notlmig, and continued in 
office to prey upon them. And he continued to prey upon 
them. Such hypocrisy and duplicity was insufferable; but 
they continued their appeals to the executive, and suffered 
long before they took the power into their own hands. 
Finally, after having done all that loyalty demanded, they 
went into the court house at Hillsboro, and the Judge 
found it convenient to discontinue the farce that had been 
played long enough. He, the Clerk, the Sheriff, and per- 
haps other officers of the Court ought to have thanked the 
clemency of the Regulators that they did not figure as did 
Pugh, Merrill, and others, who died at the rope's end a year 
or two afterwards, under hiridico Executive Justice and 
Mercy, under the sword of a villian upon the bench and 
tyrant in the field This may seem strong language, but 
it is nevertheless true. 

Governor Tryon, instead of purging the courts of jus- 
tice and protecting the people against these high-handed, 
arrogant plunderers, (as a great and good man would have 
done) became their accomplice, their aider, abettor, and 
supporter. He, no doubt, pocketed a portion of the judi- 



30 The Davidson College Magazine. [Oci, 

cial robbery, and temporized so as to prevent the arming 
and military organization of the sufferers. 

He dreaded a rifle in the hands of a backwoods hunter, 
and his policy was to keep powder and lead out of their 
reach. He procured the pretended enactment of statutes 
against mobs, riots, and treason, to prevent public meetings 
and keep the people from acting in concert. 

After all these legislative, judicial, and civil appliances 
had been resorted to in vain, he decided to draw the sword. 
Public opinion, he knew, was against him, but the awful 
and sublime doctrine that "the King can do no wrong" he 
relied upon. He issued his proclamation to all lovers of 
order and good government (the usual style) to rally to his 
standard and put down the rebels. 

He found men enough, among the aristocracy of the 
East, ready, from interest or ambition, to follow him, but 
immortal honor is due to the little county of Duplin. They 
not only refused to take up arms against their fellow- 
countrymen, but afterwards refused to take the oath of 
allegiance, coined by Tryon for the occasion. 

Strange indeed is it that John Ashe could defy the Gov- 
ernment to execute the Stamp Act, and yet follow Tryon 
to slaughter his fellow subjects for resisting unjust taxa- 
tion. 

It is idle to attempt a palliation or excuse by calling the 
Regulators ignorant rioters, or a misguided mob. Governor 
Martin afterwards admitted that they were grievously 
wronged, and it is certain that Caswell and Ashe knew it. 

At the last hour, the Regulators sent a petition to Gov- 
ernor Tryon, begging him to redress their grievances and 
prevent the effusion of blood. 

He required them to lay down their arms and surrender 
unconditionally to him, his harpies, and blood-hounds. 
This they refused to do, knowing that they had justice 
and right on their side. Tryon's followers knew it too, 
and hence their hesitation to fire upon the Regulators. 



1899] The Alamance Regulators. 31 

The principles upon which their cause was bottomed were 
precisely those of the Revolution. It was in fact the 
beginning of the Revolution, and had they been sec- 
onded as they ought to been, by the whole province, 
it is a very rational presumption that few Tories or Loyal- 
ists would have afterward appeared in North Carolina. 
Tryon's party was the Royalist party. It was the Tory 
party. The Regulators were the Whig party of that day. 
As is usual in such cases, when the Boston Regulation, or 
insurrection, broke out, many of them changed sides. Some 
of Tryon's leaders raised the banner that the Regulators 
had dyed in their blood. Some of the Regulators became 
loyalists, because many of their party had lost their lives 
and property in resisting the Royal Government. The 
first rising having proved a failure, how could they confide 
in the second ? 

My purpose is to do justice to all concerned. The 
divine right of kings or of a military aristocracy was never 
recognized here, was never engrafted upon, and permitted 
to grow upon our soil. The great error of the distinguished 
men who followed Tryon to battle was their weakness in 
permitting themselves to be made use of as instruments to 
enforce his unholy design. Some of them afterwards made 
atonement as far as they could for the blood they had shed 
in Alamance by battling for their country's rights nobly, 
manfully. 

The misfortune of the Regulators was that they were not 
headed by some of the prominent civil and military lead- 
ers of the Province. They were made up of the substan- 
tial yeomen of the country, who had felt the heel of oppres- 
sion and the iron grasp of power. 

Distant counties and provinces of the Colony (such as is 
always the case in despotic governments,) were the theatre 
of hea;vy exactions to pamper pride and office. 

The proof is undisputed and indisputable. The sheriff 
was the right arm of the court, the clerk, his master 



32 The Davidson College Magazine. [Oc/. 

scribe. Backed by the awful dignity of the Bench, these 
villians knew whom they could assail with impunity. 

The means of education were limited ; they had no news- 
papers or printing presses to vindicate their rights ; but 
many of them could read and write. They understood 
what civil and religious liberty meant. They knew what 
law and justice was. They could appreciate freedom and 
equality. They saw the lordly aristocrats of the land 
favored and fattened, and themselves trampled under foot. 
They saw money filched from their purses to build guber- 
natorial palaces, and to feed clerks, sheriffs, and constables 
without their consent. They saw that justice was put up 
to sale and that the longest purse was sure to win. They 
saw that government was a curse rather than a blessing — 
furnishing nothing but pretexts for levying contributions 
upon them. 

Notwithstanding all this, when they refused to surren- 
der their rights as British subjects, they were denounced as 
ignorant and lawless. Had they been sustained, as every 
principle of virtue and patriotism required. North Carolina 
would have had the credit of opening the Seven Years 
Campaign for Independence. Vindex. 

It is hoped that some one having the ability and industry 
Avill collect the material for a full and complete civil, judi- 
cial, and ecclesiastical history of the Old North State, and 
put it in such a shape as to present a true narrative of the 
settlement and the management of the Colony down to the 
Revolution. 




I 



